A return to collegiality in Criteria 2000 visits

Engineering Criteria 2000 require open and clear exchange between ABET evaluators and the administrators and program facility seeking evaluation. The Criteria encourage innovations in both programs and leadership by providing the opportunity and responsibility for defining unique program objectives. Under Engineering Criteria 2000, evaluators are charged to accept these program-specific objectives and to determine whether programs meet their stated goals, a process quite different from the application of pre-determined criteria. This new accreditation process necessitates enhanced communication between program representatives and evaluators. This paper provides a view of the evaluation process from several perspectives. A new Electromechanical Engineering program, evaluated in the fall of 1998, is the focus of several points of view; the chairperson of the program, program faculty, program students, and an EAC evaluator. The effect of Criteria 2000 on program processes, the steps required for visit preparation and for the visit itself; and the post-visit effects of constructive feedback from ABET evaluators are detailed. The ways in which novel programs are fostered and encouraged by Criteria 2000 receives particular emphasis. Program administrator evaluator faculty and student perspectives of the accreditation process experience are illustrated. While new program evaluations are especially challenging for all concerned, evaluator and program participants alike can find Criteria 2000 evaluations opportunities for discovering ways to improve engineering education.